The Finish Line

Dale Bautista of Brandon, Fla., celebrates his completion of the 31st annual Jacksonville Bank Marathon -- his first -- on Dec. 29 at the Bolles School on San Jose Boulevard. Bautista finished 466th out of some 900 participants, a scant 2 hours, 32 minutes and 57 seconds behind overall men's winner (and Orange Park native) Nicholas Maedel. The rain that began falling an hour after the race started turned into a downpour so torrential that race director Doug Alred described it as the heaviest in the marathon's history.